Francis
Francis is one of Fagin's dogs in Disney's Oliver & Company. He was voiced by the late Roscoe Lee Browne. Description Francis is a fat, beige British Bulldog with a small tail, brown face, ears, and nose. He often speaks with a British or Old English accent like a Shakespearean actor since he has a passion for theaters, the arts, and acting as evidenced when he is seen watching the grainy T.V. and a theatrical production of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most famous plays and which he apparently knows by heart and when is seen playing a dog-hit part (which Einstein actually did on purpose) to distract the limo driver, Winston, while Oliver and Tito (mostly), handle the car's radio theft. However, his love for theater and art can cloud his judgment even in the most dire situations. He is shown to be kind, tough, funny, easily irritated, and sophisticated. At one point, he is known to give anyone an uninteresting education about his real name; especially Tito, stating never to be called either "Frank" or "Frankie" ever again; simply "Francis." However, he is also known to show some anger in him, especially when he almost loses his temper while repeating his real name 3 times to Tito after he foolishly calls him "Frankie" again. Appearances ''Oliver & Company In Fagin's barge, Francis watches the grainy television and a theatrical production of ''Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most famous plays and which he apparently knows by heart as he mouths the words in time with the character on T.V., while Rita and Einstein are sleeping. When he hears Tito making some noise with his Latin music and playing around with his wallet, he scolds at Tito; telling him to "stop that racket" in order to allow him to watch the show. But then, Tito starts talking, annoying, bothering, and mocking Francis, which almost causes Francis to lose his temper and challenge him to a fight. When Tito calls him "Frankie" for the Xth time, Francis proceeds to give him an uninteresting education about his name; stating never to call him either "Frank" or "Frankie" ever again; simply "Francis." Then, Tito asks "Frahn-cees" what he brought for the gang as food for the day and Francis replies: "It's none of your business, you intrusive little pipsqueak." When Einstein comes and shows them what he got as "loot" for his owner, Fagin, Francis mocks him; telling him that all they need now is the court and the net, but Einstein naively takes him seriously when he inquires if their home is big enough. Then, Tito tells Einstein about his "loot." But when Francis mocks Tito; telling him that his "loot" is nothing more than just shredded leather, Tito begins to lose his temper and scold at Francis. Then, Rita wakes up and tells Francis and Tito to stop arguing. Rita checks out the "loot" in the "loot" box; she and her friends brought for Fagin, saying he's not gonna be too happy about it. When Rita asks Francis if he got the food today, the dog-gang are upset by the fact that Francis forgot since it was his turn today. Luckily, their leader, Dodger arrives on time and introduces Francis and his friends to their dinner: hot dogs. When Francis and the gang ask Dodger about how he got those sausages, he tells them every event that occurred to him today. As soon as Dodger mentions his "monster" (Oliver) in the story, Francis and everyone else become a bit scared and even more spooked when the "monster" suddenly falls and crashes into their home. Francis runs while shouting: "Take cover!" and hiding in fear in a corner. At first, they don't know what it is even when Rita asks Francis the question. Tito thinks it's an "alien" when a mysterious paw, coming out of the cloth, grabs and scratches him on the nose but then when the result is out, it turns out to be Oliver; referred as a cat by Rita after seeing the result clearly and telling everyone to calm down and what it is. The gang (except Dodger) surround Oliver and ask him questions about how and why he came to their place. Oliver says he followed Dodger. After Rita silences Tito with a kick when he continuously repeats that Oliver is "lying" countless times, Francis asks: "Why would a cat follow a dog?" to which Einstein replies: "Yeah?". Later, Oliver reveals to them the truth about his involvement with Dodger's hot dog scheme, which later makes Dodger admit to his friends that Oliver did indeed assist him in stealing the sausages and he begins to develop respect for the kitten, as does the rest of the gang after that. Then, Francis and the gang start mocking Dodger about his "monster" story while Dodger is watching, with his sunglasses on, the baseball game but then, a dogpile fight ensues, to which Einstein joins in enthusiastically and then, Rita, when Dodger jumps on Tito since he won't stop mocking him and Francis inadvertently joins in, which somewhat frightens Oliver a bit and makes him hide inside the "loot" box. Later, a voice is heard; revealed to be Fagin, the dogs' owner. Fagin comes in, tells his dogs to stop, and receives an unexpected warm welcome home from them despite Fagin's protests. The dogs also notice the dog biscuits Fagin bought them. However, when a honking noise is heard outside, Fagin knows it means his evil boss, Mr. Sykes, whom he owes money to, is here. Fagin is disappointed by the "loot" his dogs brought for him to pay back Sykes and he discovers Oliver but before he can examine him, Sykes' two Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto, come in and shoo him out to talk with their master while they taunt his dogs as Oliver hides from them. While Fagin is out talking to Sykes, Roscoe taunts Dodger and the gang while DeSoto sniffs around the place. After Roscoe flirts with a disgruntled Rita, Francis insults him and Tito high-fives him to congratulate and encourage him, but finds himself confronted by the angry Doberman. Not scared of the Dobermans, Tito gets angry and challenges Roscoe to a fight as he tries to attack him but Einstein holds him back. Then, Einstein insults Roscoe until he is now confronted by the angry Doberman. As Dodger tries to calm Roscoe down, he smashes the T.V. says he finds it funny, and laughs in a sinister way as a reply. When Oliver is unfortunately discovered by DeSoto and DeSoto, in return for trying to eat Oliver, has his nose scratched by Oliver, Roscoe and DeSoto attempt to attack Oliver, not before Dodger intervenes and protects him. Then, the rest of the gang join in to protect their new cat friend from the two evil dogs; making the them hesitate when they realize they are outnumbered. As they leave when their master calls for them again, Roscoe swears retaliation on Dodger and the gang and tells them they are going to pay for what they have done; starting with Oliver. After Tito tells them off, Francis high-fives him. Then, Fagin walks in all wet (after falling off the pier) and sad since he was given only three days by Sykes to pay him back or else who knows what might happen to him, his home, and his dogs. The dogs do everything they can to cheer him up. Fagin is rejoiced and thanks them. When it's time for bed, Einstein insists Fagin reads them a bedtime story. At first, Fagin is reluctant since he is too tired, but when he hears and sees Einstein whining sadly, Fagin accepts "but just 1 chapter tonight." Francis helps bring the lamp to Fagin's side while Tito turns it on and towards Fagin's direction. During the story reading, Fagin asks Francis to demonstrate a real bark when he notices Francis giving him a puzzled look since his barking imitation wasn't really dog-like, which he does perfectly well. Later, Francis sleeps on the floor next to Fagin with Tito sleeping on the left side of his face and using his left cheek as a cover. The next day, the gang are riding in Fagin's scooter. Then, they're told to get out on the street to search for food while Fagin searches for a way to earn or even steal money. Dodger intends to help Fagin with his financial problem; starting on Columbus Avenue, which Oliver agrees to do as well. Then, Oliver is given a lesson by the gang, mainly Rita while singing "Streets of Gold", about the rough, tough streets of New York and about "how the best survive by keeping their dreams alive." During and after the song, Dodger and the gang save Oliver again when a vicious alley dog chases him. Oliver even tries to "bark" like a dog to shoo the alley dog away and the gang finds it amusing a bit. When Dodger notices a beige limousine, he comes up with a plan on how to steal its radio and give it to Fagin to exchange it for some money as partial payment to his debt with his evil boss. Later on, as part of Dodger's plan, after Einstein stops the limousine by intentionally running into it head-first, Francis plays the part of the dog hit in order to distract Winston, the driver while Oliver and Tito mostly handle the theft. When the plan backfires, Tito flies out of the car and Francis, thinking the plan worked, licks Winston "Good-bye" and runs off to hide in a corner with the rest of the gang as the car drives away with Oliver still inside. Francis and the gang get back to Fagin while Dodger and Tito follow the car where Oliver was taken in. A few moments later, Dodger and Tito return to Fagin and the gang to inform them about everything; thinking their friend is in trouble in a "torture place" when actually he has been adopted by a young girl named Jenny Foxworth, who found him in the car, and taken to her upscale house. When a decision is to be made about whether to help Fagin or Oliver, it results with Francis speaking Old English, which annoys Tito, resulting with Francis losing his temper while repeating his real name three times after having been called "Frankie" "again", which he dislikes. Luckily, Dodger intervenes and breaks up their argument, though Tito gets one last raspberry at Francis in before Dodger turns to glare at him, forcing Tito to quickly turn his head away and play innocent to avoid a reprimand from Dodger. Dodger suggests they "rescue" their friend first and then take care of Fagin, which the gang agrees to. Then, he forms a "rescue plan" with the gang. Dodger leads the "rescue" mission to recover Oliver the next day while Jenny is at school. The gang notice Winston, the driver and Jenny's family butler, banging on something with a rolling pin, thinking he's "torturing" Oliver. Francis says he will "handle that ruffian." After Einstein distracts Winston by ringing the doorbell, Francis distracts him by playing the dog injury scene like before, then licks him "again". Winston quickly realizes he is the same dog who faked his injury the other day and starts to shoo him away with his rolling pan while Francis pulls him by his apron. When the rest of the gang are inside, Francis runs back to the house to join them and locks the door; leaving Winston outside. In the house, the gang's admiring the place; mostly Francis who is admiring Chagall and Matisse's masterpieces (dog paintings), more than focusing on their friend. Luckily, Dodger helps them snap out of it right away. Later, Dodger enters Georgette's (the Foxworth family's spoiled pedigree poodle dog show queen) room. Georgette panics and calls for Winston countless times; thinking that he's after her. When Dodger assures her that he isn't, Georgette feels insulted, thus, giving him an uninteresting education about herself. Then, the rest of the gang enter her room and start causing a mess, with Francis lying on her bed and eating her chocolates and mostly Einstein when he sniffs her powder and sneezes. This causes Georgette to call Winston again, who managed to sneak back in the house through the window. When Dodger mentions that they'll leave as soon as they get their cat back, Georgette becomes more cooperative. Before cooperating with the "rescue," Winston checks to see if Georgette is alright. Einstein along with Francis are seen hiding under Georgette's bed cover with half of Georgette's body sticking out, Dodger and Rita posing as dog statue replicas, and Tito hanging on a coat hanger of the door. Despite finding it a bit weird, Winston leaves. When Georgette takes the gang to Jenny's room, they notice Oliver happily sleeping his pillow. Rita becomes the first one convinced he's okay and proposes they "forget the whole thing" but Georgette, eager to get rid of him, convinces them that "he's so traumatized" and when Winston's voice is heard again, she hands him to them in a pillow sack held by Einstein and Francis and allows them to flee through the fire escape. Back at the barge and after Oliver's "rescue", it turns out that he wanted to stay with Jenny. After an unpleasant conversation with Dodger, Francis and the rest of the gang are sad to see their friend go and Oliver, full of sadness and sorrow, leaves until a depressed Fagin returns and takes Oliver back in. When Fagin notices Oliver's new golden collar and the address inscribed on it, Fagin suddenly comes up with an idea of ransoming him, which just might help him with his current problem since all his other previous attempts have failed. At night, after Fagin, Oliver, and Dodger's unpleasant rendez-vouz with Sykes and his dogs, Francis and the others wait with Fagin and Oliver, in his pocket, for their rendez-vous with Oliver's unknown wealthy cat owner (Jenny). When Jenny with Georgette arrives, she and Fagin talk. After Fagin and Jenny have a small conversation with Sykes and his dogs unknowingly watching them in his car from a distance, Jenny turns out to be Oliver's owner with only a piggy bank as payment to get him back and starts crying when she gets scared and doesn't know what to do. Fagin, at first, has a hard decision about whether to follow his good heart or not and feels guilty to see Jenny and Oliver sad. Finally, Fagin gives up the ransom, pretends to find Oliver in a box, and hands him to Jenny. Unfortunately, Sykes bursts into the scene, kidnaps Jenny, throws Oliver out of the window, and tells Fagin to keep his mouth shut and to consider their account closed. Then, Dodger, Francis, and the gang come to Oliver's aid. Dodger assures and promises Oliver that they'll "absitively" get Jenny back. Oliver and the dogs run to Sykes' warehouse without riding in Fagin's scooter this time. After an inspection of the warehouse has been made by Francis and Tito, it turns out everything appears to be locked up so now, Dodger comes up with a plan on how to get inside. As the plan is set with Francis as the first "cannonball," Oliver as the second "cannonball," and Tito as the "maestro," the gang call for Francis to see if he's ready and he is, thus, jumping on the seesaw and launching Oliver up through a window and inside. After Oliver opens a hatch from the inside while avoiding Roscoe and DeSoto, Tito insists Georgette enters first since she is a "lady," which Georgette finds admirable about him since he's the only with "manners" to which Francis says:"Good grief." The gang do everything they can to avoid Roscoe and DeSoto, who were alerted by a noise when Oliver entered the place, and security cameras. When Georgette foolishly screams because of a broken nail; alerting the two evil dogs again, Francis says:"Oh, balderdash.", which upsets Tito. From the top of Sykes' office, Oliver and the dogs observe Sykes talking on the phone to Winston about Jenny's ransom and Jenny's okay but tied up. Dodger comes up with a plan on how to distract Sykes and help Jenny. The Dobermans are later alerted by their enemies' smell. Tito, Francis, and Einstein distract Sykes by posing as a Pizza delivery guy and luring him away while Oliver and the rest of the dogs enter and try to rescue Jenny. Oliver and Jenny are happily reunited. Tito, Francis, and Einstein run as fast they can to avoid Sykes until they end up in front of Roscoe and DeSoto. When all seems lost, Georgette traps the evil dogs in a tarpaulin and they return to join their friends in Sykes' office while locking the door. Dodger tells Francis to keep an eye on the monitors while they figure out another way of escaping since chewing the ropes off Jenny failed. Dodger checks the monitors again and asks Francis if the coast is clear, only to find Francis naively watching old girl dancing shows on one of them. Dodger quickly switches the monitors to what is going on outside, where he notices Sykes and his dogs returning to them. Luckily, Dodger notices a crane on top, therefore, another idea comes to his head again involving Tito with electronics despite having been electrocuted too many times. At first, Tito seems reluctant but, with a little love persuasion from Georgette, he's cooperative. They manage to escape with Jenny, before Sykes and his dogs break down the locked door in pieces. Things go well until Sykes cuts off the crane controls with a fire ax; causing everyone to fall and land on a long slide. They slide until they reach the end where, unfortunately, their enemies have them cornered. When all seems lost and before Sykes can snap his fingers to order his dogs to attack, they hear a honking noise, and breaking in through the window, it turns out to be Fagin with his scooter. Francis and everyone else jump in and drive away as fast as they can. They seem to be able to outrun the two evil dogs chasing them on foot until Sykes manages to catch up with them in his Cadillac. Having no other alternative, Fagin drives his friends into a subway station but Sykes, driving like a madman, is able to drive in as well. Fagin then drives them through a tunnel with Sykes still in pursuit. When Sykes' car collides with Fagin's scooter, Jenny falls and ends up on Sykes' hood. Francis and the rest of the dogs bark and growl at their enemies, while Oliver helps Jenny, later Dodger, and Dodger helps Oliver; killing Roscoe and DeSoto in the process. On the Brooklyn Bridge, when Jenny calls for Fagin's help, Fagin comes to help her while Tito takes command of his scooter; despite Georgette gripping onto him in fear for a while. Sykes manages to grab Jenny's leg and pull her back in until Oliver and Dodger jump on him and fight him off; allowing Jenny to jump to Fagin on his scooter. In front of them, a train is coming their way. Luckily, Tito is capable of saving everyone by jumping on one of the cables of the bridge and driving them to the top but Oliver and Dodger are still in the car; fighting Sykes off. Sykes throws Oliver and Dodger out of his car until he notices the train heading his way and the train kills him, thus, sending him and his car into the Hudson River. When the rest of the company drive back down, Jenny runs to search for Oliver, only to find a Dodger, with great sadness, approaching and holding him, thinking he's dead. But when a small meow comes out of Oliver, everyone including Dodger is glad to know this means he's still alive, except Georgette, who is still in great shock from the chase. Then, Dodger, Francis, and the rest of the gang are accepted as Jenny's new best friends. The next day, at Jenny's home, Oliver and his friends are celebrating Jenny's 8th birthday and giving her birthday gifts. During the celebration, Francis appears to be annoyed by Tito's Latin music, which he is listening to again while teaching Georgette some of his dance moves in another room. When it's time to go, the gang (except Tito) say their good-byes to Oliver and vice versa. Francis joins his friends in singing a reprise of "Why Should I Worry". Finally, they join Fagin on his scooter and drive back home while still singing. ''House of Mouse'' Francis has made a few guest appearances in House of Mouse. He can be seen along with some of the dog-gang members and Oliver in the intro. In the episode "Pluto Saves the Day", Francis appears with the Pet Shop Dogs band singing "Everybody Wants to Be a Woof": composed of Jock, Napoleon, Lafayette, Tito, DeSoto, and some Dalmatian puppies with Dodger as their leader. Later, he and the band fight off Pete (who's disguised as Snow White) and then chase him out along with Pluto. Disney Parks In the years following the movie's release, Francis made numerous appearances at the parks. Gallery For more images, click here. Trivia *Francis was based on Winston Churchill, whose appearance was often compared to being like a bulldog. *Francis is seen watching Macbeth on T.V., one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays, and which he apparently knows by heart. *In Jenny's house, when not focusing on "rescuing" Oliver and admiring masterpieces, Francis mentions: Chagall and Matisse; two famous French artists. *Francis' voice actor Roscoe Lee Browne has also done the voice of Mr. Arrow from Treasure Planet. *Patrick Stewart was considered for the role of Francis. *Francis was shown eating Georgette's box of bonbons. It should be noted bonbons are small candies coated in chocolate which is poisonous to both dogs and cats. *Francis greatly resembles Bull from Lady and the Tramp as both are the same breed. Category:Characters Category:Disney characters Category:Oliver & Company characters Category:Dogs Category:Males Category:Adults